Patent GB-190421882-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Machines for Opening and Removing the Contents of Envelopes
Filed: 1904-10-11
Granted: 1904-12-22
Abstract: 21,882. Wolf, E. E., Garrett, W. H., and Letter Opening Co. Oct. 11. Envelopes, opening and emptying. The envelopes are fed from a shoot 3, Fig. 4, to a stripping-roller 28, which prevents more than one envelope from passing at a time, and then past rotary side cutters 36, which open the envelope sides. The front edge of the envelope is then opened by a cutter 43, and the enclosure and envelope are separated by rollers 80, 81, the enclosure passing out at the front, and the envelope through rolls 124, 126 at the back. The band 7, forming the bottom of the shoot, runs on rollers, and is connected to a pusher at the back of the envelopes and to a weight 8. The feeding-cylinder 12 carries a shaft 19, rocked by an arm engaging a stationary cam outside the cylinder, and having arms 24 carrying needle points, which pass through slots in the stop plate 18 and drag the bottom envelope up between the stiff wire guides 13, 16. The stripping-roller 28, consisting of rubber discs 29 clamped between flanges 30, is revolved in the same direction as the cylinder 12 by suitable gearing, and pushes back any envelopes except the lowest that are carried forward. The cutters 36 act in conjunction with the sides of the feed-cylinder 12 to remove the lateral edges of the envelopes, the clippings passing down shoots 42. The needle-pointed arms 24 are then withdrawn, and the ends 60 of pushing-arms 59, on a shaft 56 operated by the shaft 19, are projected behind the envelopes to feed them forward until the front edge is just beyond the fixed cutting-blade 52, attached to the machine frame. A row of needle points 61, carried on an oscillating head 62 actuated by levers from a cam on the shaft 10, assists the arms 59 in feeding the envelope to the cutter 52. The arms 59 are then withdrawn, and the envelope is held still by the points 61 while a spiral revolving cutter 43 removes the front edge, the cuttings passing on to a shoot 72. The pins 61 are then moved forward still further, until out of engagement with the envelope, which is then pushed by arms 77, controlled by a stationary cam, to between guides 111, 116. The guides 116, with rollers 123, are mounted on a shaft 117, and are brought close up to the guides 111 by levers actuated from the same cam as is used to operate the oscillating head 62, and between these guides the envelope is fed to the separating-rolls 80, 81 between guides 111, 113. The rolls 80, 81 have recesses in which the guide-wires 111, 113 pass, and both move in the same direction as the cylinder 12. The roller 80 has a surface of emery cloth or other substance with greater gripping power than rubber, with which the lower roll 81 is covered. The roll 81 revolves considerably faster than the roller 80, and is moved upwards by a cam about the shaft 88 to grip the envelope with an adjustable spring- controlled pressure between itself and the roller 80. The guides 116 are then moved back into the position shown, and the lower roller 81 unfolds the envelope and pushes the enclosure or enclosures out at the front of the machine. The envelope, by the greater gripping power of the roller 80, is passed as a flat sheet to the back of the machine through the rolls 124, 126. The shaft 10 is provided with a handle, and drives the rest of the machine through suitable gearing.